[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 148 (Thursday, September 6, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6041-S6042]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF BRETT KAVANAUGH

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, day 2 of Brett Kavanaugh's 
confirmation hearings proved to be a marathon session. For 13 hours, 
Judge Kavanaugh was grilled by our colleagues on the Judiciary 
Committee. Through that testing, the Senate got to see exactly why the 
American Bar Association deemed this nominee to be unanimously ``well 
qualified,'' which is the highest possible rating, a distinction that 
many of our Democratic colleagues in the past called the gold standard.
  We saw precisely why he has earned such praise from accomplished 
legal figures, like Lisa Blatt, a self-described liberal and a leading 
Supreme Court litigator who proudly introduced Judge Kavanaugh before 
the committee; and Neal Katyal, the Obama administration's Solicitor 
General who said: ``It's very hard for anyone who's worked with Judge 
Kavanaugh, appeared before him, to frankly say a bad word about him.''
  Judge Kavanaugh was patient and professional. His answers showed 
total command of everything, from the fine details of case law to the 
principles upon which our Founders built the Constitution.
  In July, one of Judge Kavanaugh's former Yale Law School professors 
explained that he is ``an avid consumer of legal scholarship. He reads 
and learns.''
  It certainly shows. Judge Kavanaugh's widely acclaimed temperament 
was on full display. He gave thoughtful, expansive answers, while also 
respecting the independence of the judiciary. Even as some of our 
Democratic colleagues seemed to forget--seemed to forget--that we are 
examining a potential Supreme Court Justice and not interviewing a 
superlegislator who will be writing his own policy preferences into 
law, Judge Kavanaugh remained very gracious and spoke at length about 
his past jurisprudence and his understanding of the role judges play in 
our Republic.
  It was striking to contrast Judge Kavanaugh's poise, on the one hand, 
and professionalism with the continued unhinged--literally, unhinged--
antics of the far left, which once again resorted to yelling and 
screaming and interrupting the hearing with nonsensical protests. The 
Capitol Police deserves all of our gratitude for keeping order, as does 
Chairman Grassley for keeping the proceedings moving smoothly.
  Perhaps it is finally dawning on the far left that Judge Kavanaugh is 
an impressive, mainstream, and brilliant nominee who almost any 
objective observer would agree is more than qualified to serve on the 
Supreme Court. Maybe that is why they are resorting to futile attempts 
to disrupt the proceedings. Maybe that is why no fewer than 66 
individuals were removed from the hearing room for interruptions.
  I will be perfectly clear about this. Hysterical stunts are not going 
to stop the U.S. Senate from completing its business. There is no 
heckler's veto here. I look forward to more excellent testimony from 
Judge Kavanaugh today.

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